State lawmakers debating the future of Chicago-area transit have a new proposal to mull over, after a labor-backed coalition announced it would file a bill calling for reforming public transportation but stopping short of merging CTA, Metra, Pace and RTA.

While the train operator was found to have alcohol in his system at the time of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that this was not what caused the Nov. 16, 2023, collision north of the Howard Street CTA station.

The Chicago Transit Authority says the $1.9 billion in federal funding it’s been promised for the Red Line Extension should be secure, despite the Trump administration’s sweeping freeze of grant money Tuesday.

The campaign aims to educate residents about their rights in the event of being stopped or detained by federal agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Outgoing Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter capped his nearly 10-year run leading the massive agency at a board meeting Wednesday, saying he’d be “forever grateful for this opportunity to serve our customers (and) the people of the city of Chicago.”

The proposal comes as the Chicago region’s transit agencies are facing down an estimated $750 million fiscal cliff next year when COVID-19 relief money runs out — and amid conversations in Springfield about tying increased transit funding to major changes to the existing public transit structure.

Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter plans to resign on Jan. 31. He plans to take a job as the president and CEO of Saint Anthony Hospital on the city’s West Side.

Local public transit agencies are encouraging residents to celebrate the holiday responsibly by taking advantage of free late-night transit services. Here’s how to hitch a ride.

Local and federal officials had been racing to finalize funding for the Red Line Extension before the end of the Biden administration. The $1.9 billion in federal transit grant money will help fulfill a decades-old promise to extend the heavily used train line past 95th Street, down to 130th Street.

The CTA’s Red Line Extension project will create four new stops on the Far South Side. Residents in nearby communities harbor both concerns about how the project will play out and hope about how it could improve their communities.  

With transit advocates hopeful they’ll see shovels in the ground next year to kick off the long-awaited Red Line Extension, the Chicago Transit Authority is racing to finalize the $1.9 billion in federal funding needed to complete the 5.6-mile project before the Biden administration leaves office.

Santa and his elves are returning to CTA buses and trains for the holiday season. The holiday tradition will return starting the week of Thanksgiving and will run through late December, the Chicago Transit Authority announced Tuesday.

Board members said improved communication will be key to the agency’s survival as it faces down a projected $539 million fiscal cliff in 2026, after the CTA runs out of pandemic-era relief funding that’s been keeping its operating budget afloat in the first quarter of that year.

The Chicago City Council confirmed four of the five Chicagoans picked by Mayor Brandon Johnson to serve on the board of the Regional Transportation Authority, which is facing a $730 million deficit in 2026.

The endorsement of the city’s Transportation and Public Way Committee sends the nominations of Natasha Jenkins, Thomas Kotarac, Jarixon Medina, Dennis J. Mondero and Nora Cay Ryan to the full Chicago City Council for confirmation.

An impending fiscal cliff has led to calls from some lawmakers and transit advocates for reform — perhaps as drastic as merging CTA, Metra, Pace, and RTA into a new regional agency. That’s an idea the current transit agencies say is the wrong move.